Baby Robins, Day 14: Bye Bye, Birdies!

This morning when I went out to take a look at the nest, this is what I found:

I'm not sure when the first one took off, but apparently it was pretty early. I was sad to have missed it! We had rain showers off and on throughout the day, and I figured I wouldn't get to see any of them fly . . . but amazingly, I happened to be out on the deck when the second one took off, just after lunchtime! It was so fun to watch that first wobbly flight. Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures of it!

So then just this little guy was left.

I think he took off around 2:30 pm. I had been checking every now and then, and he was chirping quite a bit, then I suddenly didn't hear him anymore. I went out to look around, and saw that he'd flown to a nearby rock. I walked over closer and he flew up into a tree. So I guess I got to see his second flight. :)

Here you can see one of the babies perched in a tree. This was the second one that left the nest.

The past two weeks have been so much fun. I'm so happy that they all survived and are now out exploring the big wide world. :) I'm glad you guys were able to share this experience with us!

Baby Robins, Day 13

These babies are getting so LOUD! We can really tell every time their mama is feeding them because they chirp with great excitement that can be heard all over the yard and inside the house, if the door is open.


Once when I looked in the nest, I only saw 2 babies. Then I realized that the third was perched on the back side of the nest. They are so crowded in there now, I guess he was just trying to find a little extra space. :) When he saw me peering at him, he hopped back on top of his siblings! I guess it feels safer in the nest, even if you aren't actually *in* the nest (but rather, on top of it :)).

I think they will be flying away any day now. Probably tomorrow, when it's supposed to be raining and I won't get to watch. :( Maybe they will wait till Friday, but they have all been stretching their wings and getting a lot more mobile. One of them cracked me up today, as I watched him scratching his head with his foot (just like a dog would). I had no idea birds would do that! Wish I had gotten a picture of it!

Baby Robins, Day 12

"This nest just ain't big enough for the three of us!"

"Hello up there! Do you happen to have any big juicy worms you could share? Mom seems to be falling behind on the feeding schedule today . . . "

Awww, I'm gonna miss these guys in a few days!

Baby Robins, Day 11

I was so busy making jam today that I didn't have time to get a good picture of the robins while the daylight was at its best. Sadly, this is the best shot I got . . . and it only shows two of the birdies. The other little guy was facing the other side of the nest. From now till they fly, I don't think they'll probably look a whole lot different. I would love to get to watch when they take off, but we'll see if I get that opportunity. From what I have read, they should leave the nest when they're around 14 to 16 days old. So they will probably only be here until the weekend at most. I'm going to miss them!! I'm curious to see if the mama and papa robin decide to use this nest again for their next brood. Don't worry . . . if we get more baby robins, I promise I won't document their entire life on this blog. :)

Baby Robins, Day 10

I've had some questions about where exactly the nest is, in relation to our deck. So I finally remembered to take a picture of it from below! Actually this was taken earlier this week--I think if I took one now, you might be able to see the robins from this angle, too. You can see why we have such a great view of them through the crack!

They are even more fluffy today than they were yesterday. It won't be long now till they are full-fledged birdies. (I now understand a lot better what that term "full-fledged" actually means!)

If you click to make these larger, you can see the details of their feathers better. So amazing. If you look closely in this picture, to the right of the nest you can see something clear sticking out from it. I think it's a piece of plastic or tape or something that they must have found lying around the yard, and used it in their nest.

Baby Robins, Day 9

I finally got a decent picture of the mama robin feeding the babies!

I loved how they were all looking up at me here--the babies aren't a bit afraid of us, although the parents are.

I also thought this pose was cute; they all had their beaks open a little bit, but apparently weren't begging for food. They're getting so cute now! :)

Baby Robins, Day 7

Asleep . . .

Awake!

Baby Robins, Day 6

My pictures today didn't come out as clear . . . the weather was overcast when I was taking them, and I didn't wait around too long to try to get a really good one, as I didn't want to possibly get rain on the camera. But as you can see, they're looking a lot more gray than pink, now! Also, their eyes are open a lot more. You can see them a little bit in this picture!
They are definitely losing the alien look and looking like baby birds now. (Or Jim says they look like little rats with big mouths. :))

Baby Robins, Day 5

They haven't changed a whole lot since yesterday, but I did notice they can open their eyes a little wider now! And it looks like their wing feathers are starting to form. The photos I got today were some of the clearest ones I've gotten so far. I think that's because they're not wiggling as much (probably because they're more crowded. :)). They still sleep a lot. Don't they look comfy?
This is one of my favorite photos so far. I think it looks like they're singing. Maybe I'll name this photo "The Three Tenors." :)

Baby Robins, Day 4

It's crazy how fast these little guys grow! Only 4 days old, and they're filling up the nest waaaaay more than they were on Friday. They're starting to look a little more bird-like, too. :) I think their heads are starting to catch up with their eyes. I also noticed that the slits on their eyelids are forming. The slits are even able to open a little bit. I'm guessing that they must be able to see little glimmers of light when that happens. Their feathers are fluffing up more, especially on the tops of their heads. They still sleep a lot, all snuggled together. They are more than happy to wake up on a moment's notice when Papa or Mama Robin come along with food, though! I was even able to get one (very blurry) picture of one of the parents feeding them today. Hoping to get a better one eventually, but those silly deck boards don't make for easy picture taking. :)
A few things I've observed over the past 4 days: Papa Robin seems to bring most of the food. He brings big beakfulls of all kinds of juicy critters, and makes sure each one of the babies gets some of the bounty. Mama Robin usually just brings one critter at a time and feeds one baby at a time. For the first few days, I noticed that she would feed one of them, then sit down on top of them and fluff her feathers out--I think to warm them up. This seemed to be her main job. Now that they're bigger she isn't spending as much time on the nest (from what I can tell). I'm assuming she still snuggles up on them at nighttime, but I'm not sure. All of the babies seem to be growing at the same rate, so obviously the parents are good at figuring out whose turn it is to get extra calories when they need it. :)

I know I've said it before, but it is SO cool to get this up-close look at the growth and development of birds!!

Baby Robins, Day 3

You all are probably going to get tired of baby robin pictures (or maybe already are :)), but I'm doing this for my own benefit mostly . . . to keep track of how fast they grow, so we can later record all the photos and data into a notebook for science/nature study. If you get too bored with looking at birds, feel free to skip over these posts! :)
Today the babies are filling up the nest more. While I was watching them they seemed to be more sleepy than they were yesterday, but they were happy to wake up and eat every time mama or papa robin came along. The few feathers they have are looking fluffier. Their eyes are still closed. They haven't gotten much cuter yet; hopefully soon. :)

I do think it's cute how they lay snuggled on top of and around one another. Josiah thinks this is great, too. Every time he looks at them when they're laying like this, he says "HUG!" Cracks me up every time. :D He really enjoys peering down at them (almost as much as I do) and loves to talk about the baby "robbas."

Baby Robins, Day 2

They still don't have too many feathers yet, but they're definitely getting stronger! Yesterday they didn't do as much of this:

Today, I was able to get a lot of (blurry!) pictures of them with all their beaks wide open. So cute! I think their big, un-opened eyes make them look like little aliens. :)